Name: Pourable pizza batter
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 6 servings; one 13-by-18-inch pizza, cut into 12 squares
Ingredients: 370 g (about 3 cups, spooned and leveled) Sunrise Flour Mill Heritage White Flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour; weighing is best; 30 g (2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp) Granulated sugar; 2 g (about ⅓ tsp) Fine salt; 7 g (one ¼-ounce packet; 2¼ tsp) Active dry yeast; 380 g (about 1½ cups plus 1½ Tbsp) Water, warm but not hot, about 105 to 110°F; 6 g (about 1½ tsp) Neutral oil; About 2 tsp Additional neutral oil, to grease the pan thoroughly; 12 to 15 g (about 2 Tbsp) Fine cornmeal, for the pan; 1¼ cups Thick pizza sauce, prepared or homemade below; 14 to 16 oz (about 3½ to 4 cups) Low-moisture mozzarella, shredded; 3 to 4 oz, optional Sliced pepperoni; One 14- to 15-ounce can Whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice; 1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil; 2 small cloves Garlic, finely grated; 1½ Tbsp Tomato paste; ½ tsp Dried oregano; ¼ tsp, plus more to taste Fine salt; Small pinch Black pepper; ¼ tsp, only if needed Sugar; 2 Tbsp Finely grated Parmesan

Pourable pizza batter

A home-sized take on the 1988 USDA school pizza crust, with a soft middle, crisp edges and a batter you spread right into the pan.

Published Sep 22, 2026

Servings

6 servings; one 13-by-18-inch pizza, cut into 12 squares

Total time

About 1 hour 15 minutes, including the batter's rest

The pizza batter won

I made two kinds of pizza on Monday to see which one the kids liked better. One was my 48-hour fermented dough. The other started with a 1988 USDA recipe for pourable pizza crust. That was such a wild idea to me. You mix something that looks like thick pancake batter, spread it into a pan and make pizza out of it. This was school pizza when we were kids.

I only made a couple test batches of the batter. Of the kids who tried both, about 75% said they preferred it. That surprised me. I'll always lean toward the fermented dough because I like that chew. But a quick pizza the kids want to eat? That's a huge win.

The original appears as Pourable Pizza Crust, B-15, in the USDA's 1988 school recipe collection. This is my version, scaled for a home sheet pan. I left out the dry milk and used Sunrise Flour Mill Heritage White Flour.

Give the pan some credit

I used LloydPans. You can find them on Amazon, too. I think they make a big difference in the pizza, especially underneath. A good browned bottom matters just as much as the cheese on top.

I mixed the batter by hand with a whisk and a bowl. It should look like thick pancake batter. Don't keep adding flour to turn it into a dough ball. Give it its short rest, bake the crust until it sets, then add the sauce and cheese. That's the whole idea.

Instructions

Mix and rest the batter

Put a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 450°F conventional or 425°F convection. Thoroughly oil a 13-by-18-inch rimmed metal pan, including the corners. Dust the bottom evenly with cornmeal.
Stir the yeast into the measured warm water and let stand for 5 minutes. Use water around 105 to 110°F for this home mixing method.
Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast-water mixture and the 6 g oil. Whisk by hand until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula so no dry flour remains. It should look like thick pancake batter; small lumps are fine. Don't add flour to make a dough ball.
Scrape all the batter into the prepared pan. With a lightly oiled or wet spatula, spread it in a thin, even layer to every corner. Let stand uncovered for 20 minutes. It does not need to double. Make the sauce during this rest if using the homemade version.

Make the sauce, if using

Drain the tomatoes over a bowl, keeping the juice. Crush or briefly pulse the tomatoes, leaving a little texture.
Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until it darkens to brick red. Lower the heat if the garlic starts getting too dark.
Add the tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 8 to 12 minutes, stirring, until thick enough to mound on a spoon. Add reserved tomato juice a tablespoon at a time if needed to loosen it.
Take off the heat and stir in the Parmesan. Taste and adjust salt. If the tomatoes taste especially sharp, add the small amount of sugar and taste again. Remember that the cheese and pepperoni add salt, too.

Bake the pizza

Par-bake the rested batter for about 10 to 12 minutes, checking from 8 minutes, until the center is set, the top looks dry and the underside starts turning light golden. Dark pans and convection ovens can finish sooner. Lift a corner with a spatula to check the bottom.
Spread 1¼ cups thick sauce over the set crust, leaving a narrow rim. Add the mozzarella and optional pepperoni. Keep the toppings in an even layer.
Return to the oven for about 10 to 13 minutes, until the cheese bubbles with browned spots and the base is browned and crisp. Check the underside as well as the top. If the cheese browns first, loosely tent with foil and give the base more time.
Rest for about 5 minutes, then cut into 12 squares and serve.

Pourable pizza batter

The pizza batter won

Give the pan some credit

Watch it in the kitchen